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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23234191">Deeper in the Dream I'm Dreaming</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Muccamukk/pseuds/Muccamukk'>Muccamukk</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Pacific (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Falling In Love, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Non-Linear Narrative, POV Alternating, Pre-Canon, Sharing a Bed, WITHOUT REALISING IT</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 13:01:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,245</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23234191</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Muccamukk/pseuds/Muccamukk</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>On Guadalcanal, Eddie tries to figure out what to make of the new lieutenant. Later, in Melbourne, Andy worries if his attention is welcome.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Andrew A. "Ack-Ack" Haldane/Edward "Hillbilly" Jones</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Loose Lips Sink Ships Prompt Meme</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Deeper in the Dream I'm Dreaming</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Contains some violence and trauma, but not as bad as the canon Guadalcanal episodes.</p><p>Title from Greg Brown's "Think About You."</p><p>Written to fill the Loose Lips Sink Ships prompt: "On leave in Melbourne and there's only one bed."</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Guadalcanal</em>
</p><p>The first thing Eddie noticed about Love Company's latest replacement officer was his voice. It was deep and a little rough, even when he wasn't parched or yelling over mortars. More than that, Lieutenant Haldane spoke with the easy natural authority of a leader, not the tentative squeak or overbearing insecurity of most boys out of Quantico who'd never really commanded men in battle. He was assured and reassuring all in one, and Eddie liked listening to him, even if he was a weapons platoon leader, and Eddie was sergeant of second rifles. Still, Eddie found that as he was walking into a group of men, his ears scanned the chatter for Ack Ack's voice same as his eyes scanned the sea for a lighthouse.</p><p>The second thing Eddie noticed was that sometimes when he glanced at Ack Ack, pinning him down as a waypoint in a sea of marines, that Ack Ack was already looking back at him.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>* * *</p>
</div><em>Melbourne</em><p>Andy folded his arms across his chest and watched the newly commissioned Second Lieutenant Edward Jones argue with a hotel clerk. Between Hillbilly's southern twang getting sharper when he was agitated, the clerk's nearly impenetrable back-country Australian accent, and the amount of beer Andy had just drunk, he wasn't entirely clear on what was going on, though the tone made it plain that Hillbilly wasn't getting the answers he wanted. Andy vaguely considered trying to intervene, but he'd long since come to rely on Sergeant Jones' judgment. He didn't expect commissioning the man had changed him much.</p><p>Besides, Hillbilly had his sleeves rolled up and was leaning forward on the desk in a way that made the muscles of his back flex against the damp cotton of his blouse, and Andy was loath to deny himself the pleasure of watching him. He'd always liked the way Hillbilly lived in his body: rippling with the ease of a man who was used to a moving deck under his feet. Even now, when they'd been back on land long enough to shower clean and for the worst of the sores to start to close, Hillbilly still had a little sway in his hips. He shifted his weight unconsciously, hands bracing on the desk like it was a rail, as if he'd brought the wide ocean ashore with him.</p><p>Finally, Hillbilly threw up his hands and turned back to Andy. He was grimacing with distaste, and Andy noticed, of all things, the hint of a blush on his cheeks. "I'm gonna goddamn skin that son of a bitch," Hillbilly snarled, only belatedly adding, "sir."</p><p>"Problem?" Andy asked.</p><p>Hillbilly sighed. "I asked Matheson to book us rooms, like you said. Musta done it after he'd had a few: he reserved one for me, and forgot all about you, sir."</p><p>"And now with half the division in town, there's nothing free," Andy concluded.</p><p>"That's about the size of it." Hillbilly looked so woebegone he might have just confessed to killing Andy's dog, not failing to secure them a billet. "You can take the one room, of course, sir. I'll..." he shrugged faintly, clearly not having thought as far ahead as where he might sleep when Andy took his room.</p><p>"No, no," Andy protested, "This is your party, Lieutenant." He emphasised the last word, reminding Hillbilly that they'd been toasting his new gold bars and calling each other by rank not half half an hour ago.</p><p>"Suppose we could go back to camp," Hillbilly suggested, without enthusiasm.</p><p>Andy already knew the time, but made a show of checking his watch anyway. "I expect we've missed the train," he said. To forestall another apology, he clapped Hillbilly on the shoulder and said bracingly: "Come on, Hillbilly, I'm sure two marines used to sleeping rough can fit in one bunk just fine."</p><p>"I can sleep on the floor, sir," Hillbilly offered.</p><p>"No, you cannot."</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>* * *</p>
</div><em>Guadalcanal</em><p>Eddie only got a chance to play his guitar when they were in reserve, but he could sing any time. His voice wasn't always the best after a long day of too much heat and not enough water, but the men never seemed to mind. They all sounded as bad as the other, and all they wanted was someone to lead their raggedy-ass chorus though "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree" and the dirty version of "Oh My Darling Clementine."</p><p>As always, Eddie scanned for Ack Ack until he found him leaning against a tree stump, his arms folded. He wasn't singing, which wasn't surprising as he never did, but he was nodding in time to the music, or maybe he was just nodding off. His skin had a grey cast to it, and Eddie didn't think Ack Ack had relaxed the muscles of his jaw in about a week, let alone smiled.</p><p>There hadn't been a hell of a lot to smile about this last month, but Eddie'd figured that was all the more reason to put the effort in. From the way Ack Ack always had a spare moment and a kind word for every marine in his platoon, no matter how worn out he himself was, Eddie could see they both felt the same. This was the first time Eddie had seen Ack Ack too ground down to even try to put on a good face for the boys.</p><p>When he wrapped up "Clementine," he made sure to catch Ack Ack's eyes and ask, "What's your favourite song, sir?"</p><p>Ack Ack started and looked at Eddie with wide eyes like he'd been asked a question in Swedish, then he blinked and shook his head. "Funny, now that you ask that, Sergeant, I can't think of a damn thing." His lips tightened, and Eddie realised it was meant to be a smile. "Why don't you pick something?"</p><p>"All right, sir," Eddie asked. Not breaking eye contact with Ack Ack, he started to tap out a beat with his palm against his knee and picked up, "You Are My Sunshine."</p><p>Ack Ack slumped back against the stump, still not smiling, but relaxing enough that it looked like now he might be able to.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>* * *</p>
</div><em>Melbourne</em><p>The sole bed wasn't quite a barracks cot, but to fit two tall men would involve more intimacy than Andy usually allowed himself. </p><p>"Not much room on the floor either," Andy commented before Hillbilly could throw himself on it. In truth, if they stowed their sea bags, there was just about enough space to walk in and out of the room, so long as one of them was sitting on the bed.</p><p>"I'm feeding Matheson to the land crabs," Hillbilly muttered.</p><p>Andy dropped his sea bag and kicked it under the bed. "Haven't seen too many of those in Melbourne."</p><p>"I'll fucking find some," Hillbilly snapped, a rare show of temper. He sighed and straightened up, shifting his hold on his sea bag. "This place ain't fit for one officer, let alone you and me together."</p><p>"Well, I don't see as we have much choice," Andy said. He had a feeling that Hillbilly had forgotten, at least in that moment, that he was also an officer. "It's actually bigger than my cabin on the <em>President Jackson</em>."</p><p>Hillbilly started to head back towards the door and just about bumped into Andy's chest, as Andy failed to turn aside and let him pass. Hillbilly flashed a tight smile and said, "Well then, you can have it, sir. I reckon I can find <em>something</em>."</p><p>Andy was pretty sure that what Hillbilly would find would be a park bench, which was hardly a fitting billet for a newly commissioned lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. That was more the kind of adventure one saved for silver bars, in Andy's experience. Andy didn't move—keeping Hillbilly trapped in the room unless he physically shoved past—and made a show of looking over the bed again. "You know, Hillbilly," he said, "I think we'd both just about fit on that bunk."</p><p>Hillbilly glanced back at the bed like he expected to find an entirely new and presumably expanded one, on the strength of Andy's word alone. Finding the old single bunk, he turned back to Andy and frowned, hands tightening on his sea bag until his knuckles stood out white. "Not hardly."</p><p>"We slept closer than that on the Canal," Andy said. He wasn't sure why he was goading Hillbilly like this, and for a flash had an image of them on a narrow ridge together, Andy driving Hillbilly forward, both at risk of falling, as what lay ahead of them wasn't clear. Maybe it was just the beer talking. Maybe it was the months of being close, but not as close as Andy would have liked.</p><p>"We did, sir," Hillbilly agreed. He looked at Andy for a long moment, and seemed to be holding his breath as he deciphered something. He sighed and dropped his sea bag, kicking it after Andy's. "Fine," he said like he'd just surrendered a gun emplacement.</p><p>Whatever they were doing, at the moment Andy was a little too tired and a little too drunk to work it out. He stripped out of his boon dockers, dungarees and blouse, not looking to see if Hillbilly was going to do the same. From the rustle of clothes, he was. When Andy looked up, Hillbilly was standing with his arms folded looking back at Andy with narrowed eyes. Andy couldn't help glancing down his body, taking in a survey of healing bruises and malnutrition. Hillbilly had been a rangy son of a bitch when they'd landed on the Canal, but he was verging on skinny now. What they all needed was a few months of rest and good chow. Andy could only hope to God that the Corps saw fit to give it to them.</p><p>The breeze from the open window tugged at the curtains but didn't do much to cool the room. Seeing Eddie's sceptical expression, Andy himself hesitated. Then he shook his head and, not breaking eye contact with Hillbilly, flipped the blankets down.</p><p>Andy crawled into bed and arranged himself so that he lay on his back with his shoulder pressed tight against the wall. He folded his hands over his chest and settled down into the surprisingly decent mattress. Andy closed his eyes, wondering what the hell Hillbilly would decide to do. It felt like it could go either way, that the charge between them could draw him into bed or push him away, same as a magnet attracted or repulsed another depending which end was up.</p><p>"What the hell," Hillbilly muttered and killed the light. The mattress dipped as he sat down, and Andy waited, breathless, as Hillbilly shuffled around. With the foot of space left free, any movement felt like the man was circling around like a cat, Eventually the ridge of his spine pressed against Andy's hip, and Hillbilly settled on his side with his back to Andy. Their bodies touched from shoulder to ass, and then Hillbilly's legs curled forward and away. "Not sure we did sleep closer than this, sir," Hillbilly muttered. "Think I'd have remembered fucking you."</p><p>"Damn right you would," Andy answered. The mention of sex lightened the air, cutting through the ambivalence that had been near to smothering them. Andy didn't know if he was relieved or not. He supposed he should be. A pair of marines bunking together ought not have carried that kind of of tension, not past a few easy jokes. Even a queer like Andy usually didn't think quite this intently about what bunking together might lead to, not even when he'd long since realised that he had an inappropriate affection for one of his NCOs.</p><p>Had it been like this on Guadalcanal? Andy wasn't sure. It seemed like another world.</p><p>"Goodnight," Andy said, and tried to turn his mind away from the way Hillbilly's back brushed against his side with every breath.</p><p>"Night, sir."</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>* * *</p>
</div><em>Guadalcanal</em><p>Not long after Lieutenant Reeve had gotten the patrol well and truly lost, a sniper in the canopy had put a bullet in him. After that, it'd been up to Eddie to try keep the surviving men alive and get them back to the company. Wherever the fuck that was.</p><p>That'd been five days before. They'd all run out of rations at the end of day three, and Eddie didn't want to think about how long he could ask the rest of the men to go without food.</p><p>He'd spent a fair bit of time groping his way around coal mines, and almost none sorting out how not to get lost in the woods, and the rest of the patrol were all city boys, and worse than useless. The kept looking at him like they expected he'd know what to do, how to get them out of this mess, and frankly that scared Eddie worse than the snipers and the alligators combined.</p><p>He'd tried following his pa's advice about what to do if a man got lost in the woods—go down hill until you found a stream, then follow that—but that'd only landed them all in a swamp. Eddie was afraid to blaze where they'd been lest it lead the Japs right to them. His pa's other piece of advice had been that if a man gets lost, he oughta just stay where he is until someone else could find him. Eddie only wished that he believed his own people would find him first. He'd been on the Canal long enough to have a healthy terror of capture by the enemy.</p><p>He knew that, as the unlucky bastard who'd ended up in charge, if he wavered for so much as a second, the whole squad could shatter like Humpty Dumpty. It'd taken him about a minute after he'd laid Reeve out in the woods, folded his hands over his chest, covered his face with a pocket square and clipped his dog tags to wish that Ack Ack were there. Eddie didn't have the naive faith in officers that some of the boots did, but he knew how to follow a man who could lead. He didn't have nearly so much confidence in his own abilities, especially not over the long haul.</p><p>It felt like they'd been moving through the jungle for years, not days.</p><p>At least going hungry was something Eddie knew how to do.</p><p>He didn't know quite when he started humming to himself. It made walking easier. All he had to do was put one foot in front of the other to the beat. He wasn't even sure it was a song, not until Jennings behind him picked it up. They didn't dare sing, but soon every man in the line was humming softly, almost together, never on key: "You Are My Sunshine."</p><p>Eddie thought he was hallucinating when he heard it echoed back from ahead of them. Not until Jennings said, "Sarge, listen to that!" did he work out that the high, clear whistle in reply wasn't just his imagination twisting a strange bird call into what he wanted to hear.</p><p>He called out, croaked, cleared his throat, called out again. It was the password from five days ago, but it got him a familiar voice in reply.</p><p>"Sergeant Jones?"</p><p>"Here, sir!"</p><p>Then he was surrounded by marines, beautiful, filthy bastards from weapons, Lieutenant Haldane the most beautiful of them all.</p><p>Ack Ack's hand was big and warm on Eddie's shoulder, and Eddie found that his legs wouldn't quite carry him the way he should. He swayed and leaned forward into the touch, just to keep to his feet.</p><p>"We all thought you were dead, Hillbilly," Ack Ack said.</p><p>Eddie nodded. He'd have given up on them too, after so long. "Lieutenant Reeve is, sir."</p><p>"But the rest of the men are accounted for." Ack Ack sounded amazed. Eddie supposed that was reasonable: a dozen men lost in the jungle without an officer or anyone else had a clue where to lead them?</p><p>"Got lucky, sir," Eddie said. The jungle shifted again, like he was on a ship that'd just taken a rogue wave broadside. He staggered, falling forward, exhaustion and the weight of everything that had happened this last few days bearing him down.</p><p>Ack Ack caught him, calling out for a corpsman as he did, then saying into Eddie's ear, "I don't know that luck had much to do with it, Sergeant."</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>* * *</p>
</div><em>Melbourne</em><p>Andy really must have been out of it, because he woke up with Hillbilly completely turned around and sleeping half on top of him. Even with the window open, it was too hot to sleep that close, and their skin was sticking from the sweat. Hillbilly's face was pressed against Andy's chest, and his curly hair tickled Andy's chin. Somehow in all this, Andy had wrapped an arm around the small of Hillbilly's back and pulled him in tight. His other hand was twined with Hillbilly's against his side.</p><p>It felt nice, Andy decided as he stared up into the dark and considered rousing the will to disentangle himself. He hadn't held a fellow as he'd slept since before he'd signed up. All his wartime encounters had been of the mutually satisfying and entirely of the moment kind, where neither party wanted to rack together. It hadn't been since Stevie Dolen in senior year at Bowdoin that Andy had literally slept with someone in a bed rather than a hole in the ground. He'd missed it.</p><p>Of course, Stevie had wanted to be in bed with Andy, and frankly Andy wouldn't put even odds on Hillbilly having a positive reaction. Andy doubted Hillbilly would get sore about falling into an embrace, but an elbow in the ribs and a muttered complaint didn't seem unlikely. Andy really should face up to that, get it over with in one go.</p><p>Besides, Eddie was drooling on his chest.</p><p>Andy sighed and pushed Eddie's hair back from his face. It really was getting long. He should have cut it when they'd all cleaned up after getting to Melbourne. Andy'd had to shave the beard he'd been working on then too. Hillbilly's hair was soft to the touch, slightly sweaty, smelling of pomade even though that never seemed to do much to control it. If Andy tipped his head forward a little, he could bury his nose in it. Andy tapped Eddie's forehead more forcefully, trying to wake him enough that he'd shift back to where he'd been when they'd bunked down.</p><p>Hillbilly grunted in his sleep. Instead of moving away from Andy, he rubbed his stubbled cheek against his chest and rocked his hips forward. It really was like having a cat. Albeit a cat that was over six feet tall and seemed utterly disinclined to move from his position on top of Andy.</p><p>The rocking hips were not helping much with Andy's resolve to get this over with before it turned into something else. So far neither of them was stiff, but that wasn't going to last long if Hillbilly kept nuzzling Andy and snuggling down against him. It was the kind of open affection that'd always been able to pry right into the tender parts of Andy's sentiments, which he'd never been able to resist returning, even when it was clearly the worst of ideas. Like now.</p><p>The fact of it was that Hillbilly was sleeping, and as far as Andy knew, his own presence in the bed was incidental to who or where Hillbilly thought he was.</p><p>Andy took one last moment to enjoy the feel of the body lying on top of his, then drew a deep breath and hissed, "Lieutenant Jones!"</p><p>Hillbilly started, blinked up at Andy, and took in the situation before he'd had time to draw a breath. Hillbilly's body went still, his legs tensing where they tangled with Andy's, his hand balling into a fist against Andy's side. When he lifted his head to look at Andy, he had the outline of Andy's dog tags imprinted in his cheek. Andy imagined that if there'd been enough light to see colour, he'd he'd pick up a blush. Hillbilly licked his lips, before saying, "Didn't mean to get fresh with you, sir."</p><p>"It's quite all right," Andy replied, wishing that he could add that if that was Hillbilly's idea of getting fresh, he hadn't spent as long in the Marines as he'd said. "Just you're lying on my bladder."</p><p>"Right. Sorry, sir." Hillbilly rolled off the bed and onto his feet, graceful as ever.</p><p>Andy didn't really have to piss that badly, but a shuffle down the corridor to the head would give Hillbilly a minute to work out what he wanted to do. Andy'd think the same for himself, but he already knew what he wanted, and knew as well he wasn't going to make that kind of move on a junior officer any more than he would on an NCO.</p><p>When he came back into their cramped room, Hillbilly was sitting on the edge of the bed with his elbows on his knees. He wasn't slumped, but sitting at rest. When Andy closed and bolted the door, Hillbilly looked up, teeth flashing white in the dark. "Figure I oughta sleep on the floor after all, sir.".</p><p>Andy took a breath, tasting the air, which was cool and smelling faintly of eucalyptus pollen. The room was very dark, dark in a way that Andy hadn't known before wartime blackouts. The bit of moonlight coming in through the curtains showed only the outline of Eddie's body. Andy hesitated over the light switch, wondering if it would be easier to have this out in the dark or when he could read Hillbilly's expression. In the end, he left the light off and went and sat at the head of the bed, leaving enough space between their bodies to seem decorous. "Worried about your virtue?" he asked carefully.</p><p>Hillbilly's head dropped forward as his hissed out a breath through his teeth. It wasn't quite a laugh. "Worried about yours, more like, sir. Can't account for something I don't know I'm doing."</p><p>It wasn't a confession, but it skirted close to being one. Andy imagined Hillbilly weighing the options: how much he trusted Andy, how much he was potentially risking, what there might be to gain. Or was that wishful thinking on Andy's part? Was Hillbilly worried that Andy might read the tension between them in a way Hillbilly did not intend, and make an unwelcome and potentially ruinous advance?</p><p>"I'm long past the age where I've any virtue left to trouble me," Andy said finally. "Though I am troubled by the possibility of stepping on you on the way to the head. It's up to you." Again, he felt like he was balancing on that ridge, close to getting somewhere, but with a precipice on either side, and Hillbilly stuck up there with him.</p><p>"Sir," Hillbilly started to say, but stopped himself. He still had his head down, but was looking up and sideways at Andy. Andy wondered how much of his own expression could be seen in the dark, and tried to make his body easy and open. "Andy," Hillbilly started again, voice small and tight, like he was squeezing the word out. It was one of the few times he'd said Andy's Christian name, no matter that Andy had told him he could be free with it now that they were both lieutenants. That single word, the choice of a name, was itself an admission.</p><p>"Eddie," Andy replied, and held out his hand, palm up.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>* * *</p>
</div><em>Guadalcanal</em><p>Eddie came down with some kind of fever after that patrol. Not malaria, thank Christ, but one of the thousand jungle bugs going around. The doctor at the aid station said there wasn't much point evacuating him to the hospital ship, not when the Japs'd probably bomb it anyway, and besides, what were they going to do there? Throw a blanket over Eddie and tell him to drink lots of water, that's what. He could do that just fine in the field hospital and save everyone the bother of moving him.</p><p>It was the kind of medical advice Eddie had come to expect from Doc Russo, and he was happy enough to stay where he could keep half an eye on his boys. Even if his chances of getting shelled here seemed about even with his chances of getting shelled on a ship.</p><p>Besides, he didn't have the strength to stand, let alone argue. Eddie curled up on his cot, pulled his blanket around himself and shivered through the fever and the chills, happy for a tent that mostly kept the rain off, and a medic who was free enough with the pills to keep the ache out of his muscles so he could almost sleep sometimes. Eddie'd sailed around the globe three times in his six years in the Marines, and knew enough about tropical fevers to expect how this one was going to go: He'd think he was dying for about a week, and then he'd either die or he wouldn't.</p><p>What Eddie hadn't expected was Ack Ack checking up on him every day. He wouldn't stay long, Christ knew he didn't have time, but he'd pop in for a few minutes and sit by Eddie's bed, talking softly about how the boys were doing, where the company was, any war news that'd gotten through the censors. Sometimes, Ack Ack just talked about home: this family, college, playing football, what he hoped to do after the war. It all blurred together in Eddie's mind, a kaleidoscope of words twisting into a new shape with every wave of chills. Still, he liked listening to the gentle growl of Ack Ack's voice, liked it more when he laughed at his own jokes. For all that he couldn't follow the stories, the words themselves felt like another blanket laid on top of the marine green wool.</p><p>Eddie wasn't sure how many days had gone by before he worked up the sense to ask why Ack Ack kept visiting the staff sergeant of another platoon.</p><p>"Well, I went to all the trouble of finding you," Ack Ack said, a smile in his voice, "I'd hate to lose you now." The crate next to the cot creaked as Ack Ack leaned forward and added more seriously. "Besides, I told the skipper he ought to put you up for a battlefield commission, and he sent that on up to Regiment. It'd be a shame to see all that paperwork go to waste."</p><p>"Battlefield commission?" Eddie asked, squinting up against the searing light of a rainy afternoon inside a tent.</p><p>Ack Ack nodded.</p><p>Eddie decided he was hallucinating again and drifted off.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>* * *</p>
</div><em>Melbourne</em><p>"Did you set this up?" Eddie asked, still not reaching out to close the space between them.</p><p>"No, no. I just didn't want you to sleep on the floor," Andy said, not wanting Eddie to think that he was the kind of man who'd seduce his subordinates, even if Eddie technically wasn't assigned anywhere yet. They both knew Andy had a pair of captain's bars and a company command in his immediate future. Whatever company he got, he planned to request that Eddie transfer with him. If he wanted to, that was, especially after this. "I can't say I haven't thought about it though."</p><p>Eddie took Andy's hand. "So've I."</p><p>The connection made, it was easy to lift Eddie's fingers to his lips and kiss his knuckles. Eddie leaned towards him, letting Andy draw him in. "What'd you think about?" Andy asked.</p><p>Eddie had to wet his lips before he could say, "Touching you. Kissing you." He hesitated, but Andy kissed his fingers again, and that seemed to draw Eddie forward. "Fucking you."</p><p>Just the words sent a shiver of heat through Andy's body: the idea that Eddie had spent all this months picturing this moment, picturing what he'd do to Andy if he got the chance. "Yeah?"</p><p>"That is, sir, if"—Eddie's fingers curled in Andy's grip—"if you like. If you don't, I can suck you off or something. I don't go the other way." He tugged his hand back, but Andy held firm, not letting Eddie fold himself away from Andy.</p><p>"That's quite alright," Andy assured him. "Getting fucked by you would be an honour and a privilege."</p><p>"Don't make fun," Eddie muttered. He yanked hard enough to get his hand away from Andy and folded his arms across his chest.</p><p>Andy paused and re-calibrated. Eddie was so easy going and effortlessly competent that Andy hadn't imagined that he would be the kind of fellow who was nervous in bed. He cupped the side of Eddie's face with his palm and leaned in for a kiss. "I'm not making fun," he said, his mouth just brushing Eddie's, "but how about we start slow, huh?"</p><p>"Oh," Eddie sighed, tilted his head so their lips met just right.</p><p>Once they got going, Eddie became more assured, taking Andy's shoulder and pulling him around to face him, licking at Andy's lips, his mouth moving hard and fierce. Andy found himself leaning back and letting Eddie push down onto the bed, their lips never parting. Andy's feet were still on the floor, and Eddie was leaning sideways and half on top of him, his hip digging into Andy's stomach again. It didn't matter. Andy would have lain crumpled like a pretzel as long as Eddie kept kissing him. When Eddie tried to pull away, Andy buried his fingers in Eddie's hair and held him there, keeping their mouths together as he let himself be devoured. He followed the curve of Eddie's spine with his free hand, stroking up and down his back. It felt so good to get to touch, after such a long time holding himself back. He lifted his hips, trying to rub against Eddie's hips, but the angle was all wrong.</p><p>Eddie twisted his head, breaking the kiss, and whispered into Andy's ear, "You gotta let me up."</p><p>Andy didn't want to let go, but he didn't want to wait, either. "Okay," he said. As Eddie stood, Andy pulled his legs onto the bed and pushed his skivvies off his hips, kicking them onto the floor. He stroked his cock idly, sucking his lip between his teeth as he lifted his hips and moaned. He hadn't let himself do this in a long time either. He looked at Eddie's ass as he bent over to push his own skivvies off. He turned back to Andy, naked now, and already hard, and his hands fluttered uncertainly. "Sir," he said, then, "Andy."—another pause, he sounded chagrined, like a man who'd just placed a bet he realised he couldn't back—"I don't got no slick. Can use spit, if you don't mind it, but..."</p><p>"Hey, we don't have to do everything all at once. You want to take it slow?" Andy asked, letting Eddie take the lead.</p><p>"Don't matter to me," Eddie replied, passing it right back to Andy.</p><p>Andy dithered between potential options, each as enticing as the last. Finally, he scooted down the bed and rolled on his side. There'd just about be enough room on the bunk for that. He made a circling motion that ended at his crotch, and Eddie nodded.</p><p>"That'll do it," Eddie commented, sounding a little choked. He didn't get back on the bed right away, but stood next to it, leaning down to twine his fingers in Andy's hair. He tightened his hold, pulling Andy's head around for an awkward, sideways kiss. After that, his hands were all over Andy, stroking along his flank, reaching down to tweak his nipples, squeezing his ass, running up and down his thighs. Even with the weight he'd lost on the Canal, Andy knew he had a body that men liked, but the pure adoration in Eddie's touch melted something inside him, making him want to be worthy of the way Eddie looked at him.</p><p>"You're something else," Andy murmured as Eddie massaged down his chest. His hands were unbelievably gentle, given that Andy knew that they were covered in scars, and he's seen him choke the life out of someone when he had to.</p><p>Eddie coughed, and mumbled, "Long as it's something good."</p><p>"Oh, it definitely..." Andy started to say, but Eddie slid his fingers over Andy's ass and and around to brush his knuckles over Andy's balls, and that was the end of talking. Andy jerked back, chasing the sensation but Eddie's hand was gone already. He stroked Andy's thigh, his thumb moving in wide, calming sweeps, and Andy settled again.</p><p>Eddie chuckled and patted his ass. "Jesus, been a while has it?"</p><p>Andy pressed his face to the mattress, laughing softly at himself. He must be coming off as quite the slut. Well, he supposed any man had a right to be after four months in combat. The whole division was horn dogging after Aussie girls. "Almost a year," he admitted.</p><p>Eddie's hand stilled, and he took a sharp breath. Andy waited for him to make some joke about Andy Haldane's ability to get some, even with access to dress blues, but none came. Instead, Eddie said, "You don't trust easily, do you?"</p><p>"I'm careful," Andy corrected, but maybe Eddie's version was more true to fact. He was also picky, but that wasn't the kind of thing he liked to admit.</p><p>"Have to make this something to remember, then," Eddie said lightly.</p><p>Andy had to wonder when the last time Eddie had gotten any was, though he supposed he was a little more practiced at finding company within the service, having been at sea for so long. Andy repressed a spike of envy at that thought. He had this, now, and no expectations of anything else. Eddie's hand was moving around to Andy's thigh, still stroking his thumb up and down. The knicks of the scars and calluses pulled at the little hairs and scraped over tender skin. Andy shivered thinking of that rough touch on his balls. He'd slept with one of the linebackers—a giant puppy of a man—but he hadn't had the controlled, lethal strength. The bed shifted as Eddie knelt at the head.</p><p>If Andy shuffled up the bed a bit, he could take Eddie's cock in his mouth, wanting to let Eddie set the pace, he nuzzled his knee instead, and took Eddie's hand in his own, squeezing it tight.</p><p>He heard Eddie draw in a breath, let it out in a huff, and mutter, "Okay," before he settled onto the bed with his knees at the head and his face next to Andy's dick. Their hands were still joined between them, but Andy tentatively touched Eddie's hip, wanting to make sure he still wanted this. From the hardness of the cock inches from Andy's nose, Eddie did.</p><p>"Okay," Andy said, a confirmation to Eddie's unasked question.</p>
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</div><em>Guadalcanal</em><p>"All better?" Mike Krantz asked when Eddie dropped back into his old foxhole.</p><p>Eddie groaned and closed his eyes until the pounding in his head abated enough to speak. "Docs said they needed the bunk," he answered. He hoped to God that he'd have a few more days to recover before anyone asked much of him. He had a feeling that his abilities currently included curling up in a ball on the muddy floor of his foxhole, and not a hell of a lot else.</p><p>Krantz wrapped an arm around Eddie's shoulders and pulled him into a half embrace, not seeming to mind when Eddie dropped his head to his chest and kept his eyes closed. He supposed that Krantz had been running the platoon in the absence of Eddie or any kind of experienced officer. He'd probably still be running it for a while yet. Eddie would say he was damn tired of doing nothing, except he knew too well what doing something looked like on this hell hole. It was more that he was tired of hearing about his boys go out without him.</p><p>"What's the word?" Eddie asked, and Krantz filled him in on the weeks he'd missed. More dead, was most of the word, and no end in sight. They had some fresh-faced butter bar as a replacement officer, not much of a change, Eddie imagined, from the last one officer second platoon had had, whose blood was still soaked into Eddie's dungarees. There'd be another after him, too</p><p>Eddie hummed along to what Krantz was telling him, and tried not to drift too badly. He'd want to know it later, but for now every muscle in his body, plus the space between his ears, ached too badly to let him think. He was sure that Krantz was doing okay with it anyway. They'd been sea going together and transferred into the 5th Marines together, and Eddie couldn't think of anyone he trusted more.</p><p>Except maybe Ack Ack, he thought, startling himself. He didn't know where that feeling came from. They'd never served together, like Eddie and Mike had, here or at sea. Eddie only knew what Ack Ack had told him, and that he had a good reputation with the boys in weapons. Liking a man's voice wasn't a reason to trust him.</p><p>"Sorry you didn't see more of me at the aid station," Krantz said, and Eddie realised that he'd drifted away from the briefing. "It's been... well, you know."</p><p>Eddie did know. "It's okay," Eddie said, not raising his head. Holding perfectly still seemed to make things hurt less. "Wasn't much company anyway, ain't no point sitting and watching a man sleep." He vaguely remembered that Krantz had dropped in a time or two despite that.</p><p>"Seemed like you had a visitor most of the time anyway." Krantz raised the words in a question, and Eddie recognised the apology as a request for gossip. He almost shook his head before remembering how bad an idea that was.</p><p>"Never did work that one out," Eddie muttered. He wished he had. He was pretty sure he'd dreamed up that bit about the commission. He'd half way convinced himself that a good half of Ack Ack's visits had been his imagination.</p><p>He felt Krantz's body shift as he looked around, then put his lips to Eddie's ear and whispered, "You don't think he's taking an interest in you?"</p><p>"What?" Eddie demanded, startled and too loud, the sound of his own voice making him wince. Krantz shushed him, and Eddie added in a lower tone that he could just about hear over the ringing in his ears, "what the hell do you mean, 'an interest'?"</p><p>Krantz shrugged, or started to until Eddie moaned in protest at being jostled. "Suppose he's conceived of a desire to <em>know</em> you, as they say in the Good Book."</p><p>Eddie didn't have nearly enough of his faculties at his command to work out that kind of sideways talk. When he did, he scoffed. "Ack Ack ain't that kind of man."</p><p>"Never can tell. Didn't think you were 'til I walked in on..." Krantz broke off at Eddie's groan. They both remembered that too well, Krantz likely with embarrassment, Eddie with the gut twisting fear that it was hard to forget.</p><p>"Ack Ack ain't like that," Eddie insisted, but Eddie was, and all at once he understood the emotions he'd been trying to ignore, the reason Ack Ack drew his attention like he did, the way his chest tightened at the thought of him. "He ain't!"</p><p>Krantz laughed, the sound vibrating through Eddie's body and coming close to healing him just on its own. "If you say so, Hillbilly."</p>
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</div><em>Melbourne</em><p>The sudden heat of Eddie's mouth on his dick took Andy's breath away. His fingers tightened on Eddie's hip, but he didn't move forward, not yet. He wanted to get a feel for the kind of pace Eddie wanted to set.</p><p>Slow, it seemed. Eddie had just taken the head of Andy's dick in his mouth and was running his tongue over it. Andy had declined the Corps' push to circumcision, and the tip of Eddie's tongue ran under the edge of his glans, even the softest touches almost too rough for their suddenness. Eddie's free hand groped forward, and Andy lifted his leg to make it easier for him to touch his balls. God, Eddie knew what he was doing. Again, Andy felt the unaccountable pang of envy.</p><p>Well, he had this now, and if he wanted to have it again, he'd better not leave Eddie with his dick hanging out in the cold. He stroked down Eddie's ass and shuffled his shoulder forward so that it was easy to lean in and lick down the length of Eddie's dick. Eddie sucked in a breath through his nose and tightened his lips around Andy's cock in response, making Andy grunt softly.</p><p>"Yeah, that's right," he murmured. He leaned forward for a better angle and licked again, again feeling Eddie respond against his own body. Eddie took more of Andy's dick in his mouth, and whimpered around it when Andy rubbed his stubbled cheek against his cock. Andy soothed the place by rolling the widest part of his tongue over it, then pressing a kiss on top of that. Eddie's hand was clutching Andy's like they were both about to drown, and all Andy could do was squeeze back just as hard.</p><p>It was hard to think with the lust throbbing through his body. It'd been so long since he'd felt anything like this kind of touch, and Andy had to hold himself back from thrusting into Eddie's mouth until he found release. He told himself he'd make a game of it, keep a tight grip on his control and not let himself come until Eddie did. Did Eddie have the same goal in mind? From the way he was stroking Andy's balls in time with his tongue rolling over the head of Andy's cock, he seemed to.</p><p>Andy would be damned if Eddie took such a chance on admitting that he wanted Andy, and was rewarded with anything less than a top effort in response.</p><p>The desire to please Eddie, to make him want Andy in the same glowing way as Andy wanted him was almost enough to push aside the consuming need that rushed through his body. Andy curled his body to get a better angle and took Eddie's dick into his mouth. He'd had this trick down before, and once he'd started it, his body fell into the old pattern. Steadying himself with his hold on Eddie's ass, he kept moving forward, swallowing as he went until his nose pressed against Eddie's balls. The swell of Eddie's cock in his throat felt strange after so long, and not entirely comfortable, but the way it made Eddie gasp and moan around Andy's dick was worth it.</p><p>Eddie was sucking with the desperation of someone who wanted to scream but could not, and in a way Andy didn't even have to think about a response. The feel of Eddie's tongue working him over drew hums and moans of pleasure from him, adding to the bob of his throat as he swallowed. He could just let himself react to Eddie's movements, and Eddie would reward him with more pleasure. God, he loved the way they moved together, the feel of Eddie's skin flushed hot under his hand, and the strength of Eddie's grip on him. Nothing turned on Andy as much as having a strong man gentle for him.</p><p>Eddie's head kept bobbing up and down, each draw away sucking hard and pulling Andy closer to the brink. Next time, Andy wanted to be able to run his hands through Eddie's curls, to cradle his face and watch him as he came. He could only see the tremble of Eddie's thighs from here, and that obscured by the dark. He wanted to touch every part of Eddie, and learn how that made him feel.</p><p>For now, he focused on drawing his head back with slow constant pressure of his lip-wrapped teeth dragging up the length of Eddie's dick. Each sliver of movement wrung another muffled cry out of Eddie, and Andy could feel himself nearing the edge. All the blood in his body seemed to be dropping towards his balls, and his head sang with dizzy pleasure, but the hand clinging to his reminded him that he needed to hold on just a little more, just long enough to spin Eddie over the edge into bliss.</p><p>Andy raked his nails up Eddie's back, and the sensation was enough to make Eddie's hips jerk forward of their own accord, driving his cock back into Andy's throat. For a moment Andy had to struggle to swallow, but he let himself slide along on the pleasure rocking through him, and ignore everything else. He held his breath and took everything Eddie could give him. </p><p>Eddie came with a high, whining sound that even the cock in his mouth couldn't muffle. His come pulsed down Andy's throat, making him swallow again and again, even as he became giddy from lack of air. Eddie's free hand was smacking Andy's hip as he tried and failed to hold back, and Andy felt a surge of pride that he'd won.</p><p>Before he pulled away or draw a breath, he felt his body drift over the edge into release. It was almost a distant feeling, the spike of pleasure of his orgasm mixing with the rush of air as he pulled in breath after panting breath. Andy felt as though he were drifting away from himself in a sea of ecstasy, with only Eddie's fingers interlaced with his holding him to this world.</p><p>Without for a second letting go, Eddie licked him clean and then crawled around so that they lay face to face in the narrow bed. It was too dark to see Eddie's expression, but the sloppy kisses he rained down on Andy's face made his mood clear. Andy ran his free hand through Eddie's hair, combing back the damp, curly strands again and again, just like he'd always wanted to. He managed to hold Eddie still long enough for their mouths to meet, and Eddie sighed into the kiss, letting it linger for a moment, before pulling away to kiss down Andy's neck.</p><p>"Next time," Andy started, but paused when Eddie froze. "If you want," he added.</p><p>"Was afraid you wouldn't," Eddie told him. "Course I want."</p><p>"Good." Andy still wasn't thinking clearly enough to say more than that. Eddie was kissing him, and his skin felt aglow with the press of soft lips and roaming hands. It felt good. Eddie had been good. It was good that he wanted to keep doing this. He could figure out the details later.</p>
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</div><em>Guadalcanal</em><p>Eddie barely had his feet under him again when the 5th Marines packed into Higgins boats and looped up the coast for an attack on a Japanese pocket. They made the landing unopposed and dug in, holding their position so that First and Second Battalions to hammer the enemy into Third Battalion's anvil. So went the theory, at least, and Eddie had heard stupider plans.</p><p>"Okay?" Ack Ack asked, and Eddie nodded without looking.</p><p>Ack Ack had taken to checking in on second platoon, with its green LT, offering the poor kid some advice, and his NCOs some reassurance. It was simultaneously good for morale and bad for Eddie's equilibrium, like looking at what he'd thought was a fixed point, and never finding it quite where he expected. He watched Ack Ack move up the line, crouched low to avoid making a target of himself. Even after two months on short rations, the man had a damn fine ass.</p><p>Looking back at the line, Eddie moved between his riflemen, making sure they were covering the gaps between the MGs. They had a good field of fire, if everything went to plan, some low swampy ground in front of them with only twisted, sickly looking trees for cover. Now all they had to do was wait.</p><p>They were still waiting as the sun set and the rain intensified to a deluge. Their holes were filling with water, and Eddie couldn't explain drainage fast enough for the boys to dig. By the time night set in, everyone'd ended up soaked and shivering despite the heat.</p><p>Eddie and Krantz usually shared a foxhole, but Krantz was babysitting the LT, and Eddie had ended up alone, hugging himself and trying to find a way to sit that didn't lead to a river running through his poncho somehow.</p><p>Ack Ack dropped down beside him with a squelch, and settled shoulder to shoulder with Eddie before Eddie could so much as nod. "Hillbilly," he said cordially.</p><p>"Ack Ack," Eddie replied. No one saluted or called anyone sir when there was the least chance of snipers.</p><p>"Word is First Battalion is stuck in a bog, and the operation's postponed until first light tomorrow."</p><p>"First light," Eddie acknowledged, assuming First got out of the bog, and that driving the Japanese towards them actually worked, it'd be 0900 before things kicked off along Love Company's lines. They'd keep watch of course, but Eddie hoped at least some of them could get some sleep.</p><p>If Ack Ack had been tasked to update the platoons, he seemed to have saved Eddie for last, because he tipped his head back against the side of the hole, pulled his hood over his face, and settled in for the night. His arm was solid and warm against Eddie's side, and Eddie leaned in a little, glad that Ack Ack shifted to allow it, rather than elbowing him off.</p><p>"You want me on first watch?" Eddie asked, voice nearly swallowed by the rain drumming on his hood.</p><p>"No, no, I'll take it," Ack Ack replied The way his head was tipped gave him as good a view of the line as they'd get through the darkness and rain. "You get some rest."</p><p>It was a strange encounter, and one that again left Eddie wondering what Ack Ack wanted from him. Weapon's platoon was mixed in with the rest of the line, and it wasn't an unreasonable place for Ack Ack to choose to sleep, but it wasn't a usual one either. There was no reason for Ack Ack to have picked this foxhole over any other.</p><p>Eddie's head was still murky from the fever and his bones ached from forcing himself to move all day with full pack all day, and he still couldn't seem to settle. Usually Eddie could drop off to sleep wherever he propped himself up like any good marine. Now, he didn't know if it was the coming attack, the discomfort, or goddamn Ack Ack pressed right up against him, but every time he closed his eyes, he found himself opening them again a moment later.</p><p>After a few minutes, Eddie sighed and said, "Why don't I take the watch?"</p><p>"Not sleeping?" Ack Ack asked.</p><p>"Not especially," Eddie said, but didn't elaborate.</p><p>Ack Ack's hand shifted to Eddie's knee, and he patted it sympathetically, but didn't move it away after. Instead he rubbed the top of Eddie's thigh with his thumb, movement slow and hypnotic. "How about you give it another try?"</p><p>Eddie sighed and squirmed against the wall of the foxhole. He still felt like he was swimming in rain, and pain, and heartache, but the steady rub of Ack Ack's thumb on his leg helped settle him.</p><p>"Oh, Hillbilly," Ack Ack said.</p><p>"Mmm?"</p><p>"I thought of my favourite song."</p><p>Eddie had to think back over a month to when he'd been leading a chorus with the boys. "Yeah? What's that?"</p><p>Instead of telling him, Ack Ack started humming "Stormy Weather," the slow beat of the torch song keeping time with the drag of his thumb. He didn't seem to remember any of the words besides the chorus, but that was okay. Eddie had always liked his low, rough voice, and humming the verses just made it easier for Eddie to fall asleep.</p>
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</div><em>Melbourne</em><p>Andy again woke with Eddie half sprawled across his chest, only this time they were both naked, and Eddie was already awake, silently watching Andy through the curtain of his hair.</p><p>"Morning," Andy said, lifting his hand off Eddie's ass to rub the sleep out of his own eyes.</p><p>"Morning," Eddie replied. He was watching Andy's expression with the same care as Andy had seen him use when putting his foot on uncertain ground.</p><p>Andy kissed his forehead, and some of the caution faded. Eddie even smiled a little, and Andy's whole body glowed with affection in response. Christ, he was glad Eddie liked him back, because he'd increasingly been making a fool of himself.</p><p>Eddie scooted up the bed a little, and they got lost in kissing for a while. Andy lazily rubbed his dick against Eddie's thigh, and thought about how nice it would feel to grind off against each other, or to let Eddie fuck him. It felt damn good just lying here messing around, and holding each other. Andy definitely liked making love better when he could see his partner.</p><p>When they were done making even more of a mess of their hot, sticky bodies, Eddie sat astride Andy's thighs and put his hands on Andy's shoulders, pinning him to the bed. He looked far too serious for a man who'd just gotten off, and Andy tried to make his expression sombre to match, but his smile kept breaking through. He knew he must look like a love struck idiot, but he couldn't help what was true.</p><p>"Ack Ack," Eddie said, then paused, looking like he was thinking of correcting that to either Andy's name or his rank, before he gave up and pressed on, "I reckon there's something as you should know."</p><p>That sounded ominous, but Andy nodded encouragingly.</p><p>"I... uh, I suppose I put up so much of a fight about racking together 'cause"—Eddie's mouth twisted as he tried to hold back the colour flooding his cheeks—"I suppose I knew it'd lead to this, one way or another, and, well, I'm awfully... Look, what I'm trying to say is if this is just going to be us fooling around, Andy, I'd like as rather not."</p><p>It was too early, and Andy was too relaxed, happy and uncaffeinated to worry about the exact words, not when he could tell the fretful tone so well. He reached up and cupped the side Eddie's face. "And if it's more than fooling around?"</p><p>Eddie turned his face into Andy's palm, kissing it, but mostly hiding his expression from view. "Already more than that for me," he muttered, almost inaudible. "Whole lot more."</p><p>Andy nodded seriously. Any other time, he'd have considered drawing this out by teasing Eddie, pretending not to understand, or fishing for compliments, but he knew that now he held Eddie's heart in the palm of his hand, and he didn't have it in him to toy with that kind of trust. Problem was, Andy didn't know what to say in the face of being offered a man's whole self with that much plain-spoken sincerity.</p><p>In the end, he settled for, "That's good to hear, Eddie. Because, for me, it's everything."</p>
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